The Wilton Rancheria is the majority owner of Sacramento FC. They are the money behind the new stadium to be built in the Railyards development and is scheduled to be finished by 2027. I'm sure Dr. Wood is wooing them intensely and hoping they'll take a big interest in building a new football stadium for the Hornets and will contribute big bucks for NIL.

https://wiltonrancheria-nsn.gov/deal-struck-for-sacramento-soccer-stadium-wilton-rancheria-now-owns-majority-of-republic-fc/

More glitz and glamor for the Hornets. Shaq is in Sac hosted by the Wilton Rancheria.

They had some very good players and they were tough at the middle school level but, once they started attending the only high school in the town, they just blended in with the rest of us and didn't seem to have a heavenly advantage anymore! They even quit crossing themselves when they shot FT's. Probably because they didn't have a nun with ruler to whack them for breaking any of their catholic school rules anymore. :lol:

Johnson had offers from Arizona, Poly, Sac and Idaho also.

They have a public prayer before each athletic contest also.

I grew up in a small town in Indiana and the Catholic kids went to their own school through the 8th grade and then they attended the only high school in town with everyone. They had the biggest and most ornate church in the town and it all seemed shrouded in mystery to me as a kid.

In basketball, they always crossed themselves whenever they shot FT's and, when we would play them in middle school basketball, I always thought they had an unfair advantage shooting FT's because they had the Lord on their side! :rofl:

Grand Canyon spent over $1 billion to build 10 new athletics facilities not so long ago. — yolohw

It's amazing how the Good Lord can motivate His followers to dig deep into their pocketbooks and spend their money! :halo: :lol:

Oops...brain fart!. Gotta improve my proof reading! I corrected it.

Grand Canyon will start MW play this year instead of 2026.

247 Sports is currently showing that Sac already has 7 hard commits for 2027 and they a have made an a whopping 295 additional offers.

https://247sports.com/college/sacramento-state/season/2027-football/offers/

I think there are a lot a valid comments here regarding my post about the new football culture at Sac and the various racial statistics of D1 football players. It's an interesting conversation.

My point of view comes from my own professional experience working with predominantly minority, junior college students at one point in my career. I'm a retired therapist and, for the last 11 years of my career, I split my time between my private practice and contracting with Sacramento City College to provide mental health counseling to students.

I have always been deeply interested in the dynamic interplay between our external environment and our individual biology and psychology and the profound effects it has on shaping our inner self, our personality and our world view. Multicultural influences adds yet another significant layer to all of this too. Oh well, don't let me get going on the "shrink" stuff! :lol:

Role models are particularly important to young people who didn't have successful role models who looked like them during their formative years. Sacramento City College offered College Success Courses that were available to all students but some were specifically aimed at various ethnic groups and they were taught by counselors who identified with those ethnicities. These classes were designed to help students learn the basic organizational, time management and disciplinary skills necessary to have a chance to succeed in college.

For example, there was a male, African American counselor who taught a College Success class aimed primarily at black males who were one of the highest risk groups to drop out. Many of his students took his class because he was black and they felt that he could relate to their cultural identity better than a non-black counselor. Similarly, various Asian students, Chinese, Hmong, Philipino etc, were drawn to the College Success Classes taught by Asian counselors and the same was true for Hispanic students.

So my point, regarding the current Sac football culture, is that many of the elite players they are getting may be strongly drawn to the culture that has been created by their largely African American football staff and an African American university president who are successful role models who look like them and share their cultural identity.

The majority of the top athletes that Marion has landed are black athletes and I think a big piece of why Marion is getting so many highly rated recruits is due to the inviting, inclusive, black culture that Marion and Wood have established. This culture speaks personally to many of the black athletes and it means a lot to them on a personal level.

Many black athletes come from disadvantaged backgrounds and college football can provide an avenue for success for them and, for many, their families as well. Both Marion and Wood represent huge success stories to them especially having overcome difficult circumstances that they can relate to.

Black athletes represent the largest racial group playing D1 football:

Data from the NCAA Race and Gender Demographics Database shows that among Division I men’s college football student-athletes in 2020, 36.5% were white, 48.4% were black, 3% were Hispanic/Latino, 0.3% were Asian.

However, black D1 football coaches are very much underrepresented:

Race and Gender Demographics Database shows that among Division I college football head coaches in 2020, 81.7% were white, and 15.6% were black, with other minority groups also severely lacking representation. For Division I College Football Offensive Coordinators, 82.7% were white, and 14.8% were black. For Defensive Coordinators, 74% were white, and 20.6% were black. Additionally, for all other assistant coaches, 51.8% were white, 40% were black, 1.1% were Hispanic/Latino, and less than 1% were Asian.

Culture means a lot to everyone. It's normal for people to feel more comfortable and connected with others who share similar experiences and values. It gives us a sense of identity and belonging and fitting in. Marion and Wood understand that and the Sac football culture is currently filling that need very well for many of the athletes they are landing.

PS: I am not suggesting that white athletes and other racial group athletes would not be welcomed to play at Sac...not in the least. I'm only saying that the current football culture at Sac has been heavily influenced by Marion's personality, coaching style and previous success and, along with all the FBS hype from Wood, this is very attractive to many black athletes in a sport that is heavily underrepresented by black coaches and role models.

https://insight.balancenow.co/diversity-of-college-coaches-and-athletes-college-football/

Sac already has 7 commits for 2027 and another 320 offers out.

https://247sports.com/college/sacramento-state/season/2027-football/offers/

Not getting into the FBS doesn't seem to be affecting Marion's ability to continue to bring in some of the top talent in the nation. This kid had over 20 FBS offers including schools like Alabama, Auburn, Miami, Florida State, Penn State, Colorado and Tennessee among others. Marion's recruiting must have those programs dumbfounded by what they are seeing.

They eat their own over on the Sac forum and they have a few members who do not like any "outsiders" to post anything on their forum. SochorField was actually able to make a few neutral posts about Sac before someone called him "a douchebag" and told him "to get the f... off their board."

as they have like 400 offers out.... — SochorField

247 Sports showed them having 30 hard commits for 2026 already and another 516 offers out as of a couple of days ago.

https://247sports.com/college/sacramento-state/season/2026-football/offers/

:rofl:

247 Sports is currently showing that Sac has already made 516 offers for 2026. Their strategy is to flood the zone in hopes of capitalizing on the publicity that gets generated by all of the retweets and social media posts from the players they make offers to even if they know they have practically zero chance of getting some of the most highly recruited players in the nation. The whole idea from Dr. Wood down to their huge football staff is to throw everything they can at the wall and see what sticks and occasionally it does but, when it doesn't, they feel like they will capitalize on all the increased media buzz.

https://247sports.com/college/sacramento-state/season/2026-football/offers/